Fact Check: Did somebody from Attapur Janapriya Society test positive for COVID-19?

Hyderabad: The number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana is increasing day by day and Hyderabad remains one of the worst-affected districts in the state. On 11 May, 79 positive cases were registered in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

Amidst this, a message has gone viral on WhatsApp claiming that some of those who tested positive are from Janapriya society in Attapur. Along with the message, users are also sharing a photograph of an ambulance and a police vehicle outside the gates of the society complex. A source shared the message with NewsMeter via WhatsApp.

Fact Check:

NewsMeter searched for COVID-19 cases in Attapur and found a Twitter post. The Twitter handle @attapurrocks had shared the image and claimed that it was fake news. The tweet read, "NO COVID Positive Cases In Janapriya Utopia (sic)."

The tweet also contained a link to an article on a website that read, "A migrant laborer from Bihar, who is working near the Bapughat area is on a walk passing through Janapriya Utopia, stopped by at the footpath near the main entrance of Janapriya Utopia due to severe restlessness. The nearby people identified him and called for 108 and police. As per the protocol, the ambulance people have asked the person to wear hand gloves and mask before entering in the Ambulance. The person immediately shifted to Osmania Hospital. We don't have any further information about the same."

We contacted the number mentioned on the website and talked to Amar Tadi who runs the website. He said, "I am the resident of the society and on 10 May (Sunday) evening, people started sharing videos and pictures saying there was a Corona-positive case in our society. I asked the security guards and other residents and they told me that a migrant labourer had collapsed near the gates, breathless. The people had helped him and called an ambulance and the police. No one from the society has tested positive. The messages created panic as there are around 1,000 flats in our society. So, I posted the article on the website stating that it was fake news."

Hence, the claim that someone from Attapur Janapriya Society tested positive for COVID-19 is false.